Early Renders Reveal Radical iPhone 16 Design Changes

MacRumors has provided details and rendered mockups of Apple's experiments with the iPhone 16's design. (credit: MacRumors)

New details on Apple's upcoming iPhone 16, including early prototype designs, reveal several radical changes coming to next year's flagship device. Internally codenamed "DeLorean", MacRumors has provided details and rendered mockups of Apple's experiments with the iPhone 16's design as it moves through the development process.

Perhaps the most noticeable planned update is a shift to a vertical dual-camera arrangement, a departure from the traditional horizontal layout used since the iPhone 7. It will make the iPhone 16 instantly recognizable as the newest model. Additional prototypes show experimentation with an iPhone 12-style enclosure for the lenses and an iPhone X-inspired pill-shaped bump.

As per the report, the button placement is also being reworked. Early prototypes included a unified volume button, which has since been scrapped.

The sophisticated haptic Action Button from the iPhone 15 Pro may also be standardized across the entire iPhone 16 lineup. Additionally, a new capacitive, "Capture Button," is being developed under the codename "Project Nova" to offer advanced camera controls. The camera styles are also being tested in both split-lens and paired openings.

As the development progresses, we'll get to know more details about the iPhone 16, but it seems like Apple is looking to change the iPhone design elements dramatically next year.